DAVID Cameron yesterday vowed to put the Tories unequivocally on the side of aspiration and shield striving middle-income families from punitive new tax rises.

David Cameron arriving with his wife Samantha, for the Conservative Party conference []

As the Conservative conference opened in Birmingham, the Prime Minister insisted that his party should be dedicated to supporting households that work hard, support themselves and save for the future.

He ruled out the swingeing mansion tax on large properties proposed by the Lib Dems.

And he signalled a further squeeze on welfare but vowed to protect universal benefits for pensioners.

Mr Cameron used a TV interview yesterday on BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show to launch a fightback against Labour leader Ed Miliband’s attempt to steal the Tory “One Nation” mantle.

He said: “The central question of British politics right now is how do we get out of the difficult straits we are in. How do we deal with the debt and deficit and get the economy growing? How do we back aspiration amongst all our people?

You cannot run an enterprise economy, an open-market economy where you want investment

David Cameron

“The Conservatives are absolutely talking that language and taking that action. I didn’t hear anything from

Labour about any of those issues.

“It’s not the speech that matters, it’s what you are going to do.

“And this week here in Birmingham you are going to hear in huge detail how we get behind people who want

But he said: “I don’t believe we should be a country where if you work hard, you save, you buy yourself a house, try and pay down the mortgage, you save and invest into that house – I don’t want to be a country that comes after you every year with a massive great tax and so that is not going to happen.

“But we have put extra taxes where people buy expensive properties. We will always be fair and be seen to be

fair.”

Mr Cameron also signalled further measures to tax top earners and crack down on tax avoidance and evasion are being drawn up. They are expected to be unveiled in Chancellor George Osborne’s autumn statement in December.

He pledged: “We are going to take further action to make sure the wealthiest people in our country pay their fair share towards deficit reduction.”

Mr Cameron defended the Chancellor’s decision to cut the top 50 per cent rate of income tax for people earning over £150,000 a year to 45 per cent in the last Budget.

He said: “The richest 10 per cent are not only paying more in income tax, they are paying a greater percentage

of the total income tax take than they ever did under Labour.

“You cannot run an enterprise economy, an open-market economy where you want investment, you want jobs, you want growth, if you’ve got a top rate of tax that is completely uncompetitive – and, by the way, raising virtually no money.”

He added that they would look for further welfare budget cuts.

Mr Cameron said: “We’re still spending £80billion on working-age welfare – that’s not the pensions, not the disability

benefits, but working-age welfare.”

Meanwhile, his wife Samantha yesterday showed she has the safest seat at the Conservative Party conference.

The Prime Minister’s 41-year-old wife wowed the Tory faithful by stepping out in skinny jeans and killer heels.

She opted for some High Street classics, teaming a pair of £39.99 Zara heels with £40 Topshop jeans and a £40 cream shirt from Cos beneath a much-loved green jumper.